Eye structure for doll or manikin



Oct. 7, 1958 E. w. BAGGOTT 3 EYE STRUCTURE F OR DOLL OR MANIKIN Filed April 11, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 II IIIIIIIIIII M IIIIIIIII'IIIIIIIII'IIIIZ l0 /9 INVENTOR.

EDMUND W. BAec-sorr mpmw 49 770 RNAVJ Get. 7, 1958 E. w. BAGGOTT 2,854,788 EYE STRUCTURE FOR nou. OR MANIKIN Filed April 11, 1957, 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4.

INVENTOR. .'DMU/VD W. ensaorr BY Wv Mwvv United States Patent 2,854,788 EYE STRUCTURE FOR DOLL OR MANIKIN Edmund W. Baggott, Hollis, N. Y., assignor to Ideal Toy gorfiorafion, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Application April 11, 1957, Serial No. 652,126 2 Claims. (Cl. 46-135) My invention relates to a new and improved eyestructure for a doll or manikin, and to a new and improved doll or manikin, in which one or both of the eyes are of improved construction.

The eye-member of the eye-structure is biased to a normal open position by means of a biasing weight or other biasing means. The eye-member is shifted to the closed or partially closed position by means of compressed air. By applying the compressed air intermittently to the eye-structure, said eye-member can be quickly shifted between its normal open position and its selected closed position, thus simulating a winking effect. The compressed air can be supplied by squeezing the flexible body of the doll, or by squeezing a flexible bulb in said body, or from any source.

According to my invention, I provide a simple and sturdy construction which can be easily manufactured and assembled at low cost.

Without limitation thereto, one embodiment of the invention is described in the following description and annexed drawings.

Fig. 1 is a vertical, longitudinal section through the improved doll.

Fig. 2 is a side or longitudinal elevation of the eye structure.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44 of Fig. 3, showing the eye in normal open position.

Fig. 5 is similar to Fig. 4, showing the eye in its closed or operated position.

The opaque head 2 and body 3 of the doll may be of any conventional construction. The head 2 has the usual eye-openings. The head 2 may be made of any suitable opaque, flexible and compressible material, such as a suitable resin from which the head is molded by the wellknown plastisol method.

The body 3 is flexible and compressible and resilient. Fig. 1 shows the normal shapes of head 2 and body 3.

The head 2 is assembled with the body 3 by means of a conventional joint. In the type of joint illustrated herein, the body 3 has an annular grooved collar 4 integral therewith, and the head 2 has an annular flange which fits frictionally in the annular groove of the annular collar 4. Said annular collar 4 has an opening 5.

When the resilient body 3 is squeezed and compressed, compressed air is forced from the interior of the body 3, through the opening 5, into the interior of the head 2, thus shifting the eye from its normal open position to its operated closed position.

The body 3 is provided with the usual arms and legs. There is enough leakage at the conventional joints between the body 3 and the arms and legs, so that when the body 3 is squeezed and compressed rapidly and said body 3 is then released, air can enter through these limbj-oints into body 3, to permit the body 3 to resume its normal shape which is shown in Fig. 1. By squeezing body 3 rapidly, enough compressed air is produced for the desired purpose.

The eye-structure includes a rear, longitudinal rigid shell 6 which is integral with a rearwardly extending, rigid cylinder 7. This shell 6 and its integral cylinder 7 are made of metal or any other suitable rigid material. Said rear shell 6 is open at its front end. A longitudinal piston 8 is freely slidable in the cylinder 7.

This piston 8 has a front head 9, so that the piston 8 can freely slide forwardly and longitudinally in the cylinder 7, but the rearward longitudinal movement of the piston 8 relative to cylinder 7 is limited by said front head 9. This cylinder 7 is open at its rear end.

The rigid and longitudinal front shell 10 is open at its front and rear. This front shell 10 is preferably and optionally opaque.

A rigid eyeball shell or eye-ball member E is located within front shell 10. At its front end, said eye-ball shell E has the representation of an eye, including the pupil P. This eye representation may be painted upon said front end of eyeball shell E or said eye representation may be fixed to eyeball shell E. The usual eyelash 12 is fixed to the front of eyeball shell E in the usual manner; As shown in Fig. 4, said eyelash 12 extends rearwardly through a slot in eyeball shell E, and said eyelash 12 is fixed to the inner face of eyeball .shell E by adhesive or other means.

The longitudinal front shell 10 is assembled with the longitudinal rear shell 6 by a drive fit. The rear shell 6 has a circumferential row of indentations 19, which limit the rearward assembly movement of front shell 10 into rear shell 6. A telescopic connection between rear shell 6 and front shell 10 is thus provided.

A rigid mount 14 is connected rigidly to eyeball shell E in any manner. Said mount 14 has integral, transversely alined pivot pins 15, which are turnable in bores or slots of front shell 10, so that eyeball shell E and mount 14 turn in unison relative to front shell 10 about the axis of pivot pins 15. The drawings are of a com mercial embodiment, and said drawings are substantially to scale, and reference is made thereto for detail disclosure.

Said rigid mount 14 is integral with a rigid biasing weight 16, which is integral with rigid fingers 17 and 18.

In the normal position of mount 14 which is shown in Fig. 4, the finger 17 is longitudinally alined with front head 9 of piston 8, and finger 18 abuts the rim of the rear opening of front shell 10, so that finger 18 acts as a stop to limit the turning movement of eyeball shell E and biasing weight 16, so that the eyeball shell E is normally maintained in the position of Fig. 4, in which the representation of the eye is fully exposed at the front opening of front shell 10.

When compressed air is applied to the open rear end of cylinder 7, the piston 8 is moved longitudinally forwardly. The head 9 is thus moved to abut finger 17 and to turn mount 14 and eyeball shell E in unison, until finger 17 abuts the rim of the rear opening of front shell 10, so that finger 17, in addition to being an operating finger, also acts as a stop finger. The front representation of the eye is thus wholly or partially shifted within the opaque front shell 10. The finger 17 has a rear face which has a curved cam shape, so that finger 17 can be shifted vertically relative to front head 9, while shifting the eyeball shell E from its normal position of Figs. 1 and 4 to its operated position of Fig. 5.

For convenience, the finger 17 is designated as the first finger and the finger 18 is designated as the second finger.

By rapidly squeezing and releasing body 3, or by intermittently supplying compressed air in any manner to cylinder 7, the respective eyeball shell E is rapidly shifted back-and-forth between the positions of Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, thus providing a winking effect.

turna'bly shifted by compressed air to a selected closed position, and stop means are provided to limit the turning movement of said eye-member between said open position and said selected closed position.

The invention includes the sub-combinations of the complete illustrated structure.

The scope of the invention is stated in the appended claims.

I claim:

'1. An eye-structure for a doll or manikin, said eye- -structure having a rear longitudinal shell which has a front opening and a rearwardly extending longitudinal cylinder which has a piston slidable forwardly and rearwardly Within said cylinder, said cylinder being open at its rear end, means for limiting the rearward movement of said piston relative to said cylinder, a front longitudinal shell which has a front opening and a rear opening, said front shell being fixed to said rear shell, an eye-ball member located within said front shell, a mount fixed to said eye-ball member, said mount having pivot means turnably connecting said eye-ball member to said front shell, .said pivot means having a transverse axis, a biasing weight fixed to said mount, a first finger fixed to said mount, a second finger fixed 'to said mount, said biasing weight biasing said eyeball member to a normal position in which the front of said eyeball member is longitudinally alined with the front opening of the front shell and said second finger abuts the lower portion of the edge of the rear opening of said front shell and said first finger is spaced from said edge and said first finger is longitudinally alined with said piston, said piston being forwardly slidable in said cylinder to actuate said first finger to abut the upper portion of said edge.

2. A doll or manikin which has at least ,one eyestructure according to claim 1, said doll or manikin having a head which has at least one eye-opening, said doll or manikin having asqueezableresilient body, said eye-structure being located within said head, said body and said head being in communication, compressed air being supplied to said cylinder, by squeezing said body, said eye-structure being'fixed'to said head at a respective eye-opening with the open front .end of said front shell alined with said eye-opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 722,207 Chafee Mar. 10, 1903 1,082,679 Connor Dec. 30, 1913 1,585,340 Fitzgerald May 18, 1926 2,526,619 Gamache Oct. 24, 1950 2,701,934 Auzin Feb. 15, ,1955 2,803,089 Crompton Aug. 20, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,022,397 France Dec. 17, 1952 

